Mcneill's
first musical memories are of her parents folk and old country records being
drowned out by her older teenage siblings recordings of Pink Floyd, Supertramp,
and Black Sabbath. The first cassette that she fell in love with(around age 5)
was a Dolly Parton and Porter Wagner duets album borrowed from her mothers
collection. She often lulled herself to sleep with its sad songs. One of her
favorites was a morbid little tale of a girl who dies young , titled Jeanies
Afraid of the Dark. Her favorite morning music was another of her mothers
tapes-ABBA. To this she enjoyed dancing around in her Wonder Woman costume and
playing air guitar while dreaming that she was either a powerful super hero or a
pop star.

At around 8 years old she got a horse, and spent every spare minute of the next
few years hanging out in forests and fields with her new best friend. Birds,
bees, coyotes, and the wind whistling through birch and poplar trees were the
soundtrack to her prairie adventures .

By high school she had developed a fondness for Gothic music and older art rock
and punk bands. Sisters of Mercy, Velvet Underground, Siouxie and the Banshees,
The Cure, Blondie were among those in high rotation as she experimented with
photography, poetry, and contemporary dance.

She continued her dance training at an arts college where she was exposed to
avant guard composers, performance artists, jazz, and musical theatre. Inspired-
she began to write sparse piano compositions for her dance pieces and to develop
several multi media pieces. She lists Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, Laurie
Anderson and Tom Waits as influences.

During this period Wendy paid for her education by working evenings as a
bartender in a live music club. The venue had a strong singer/songwriter culture
and many characters well versed in the alt- country and folk traditions. While
Woodie Guthrie, Leonard Cohen , Joni Mitchell, John Prine were frequently
covered there was also a wide range of original material. These surroundings
fostered her own fledgling songwriting and guitar playing.

Winning a song writing competition awarded Wendy with the opportunity to record
her first album, To Whom It May Concern , as well as her first major folk
festival showcase. The critics enjoyed her percussive and unusual guitar style
and she was labeled as, "a captivating performer" and "talented newcomer".

At another festival, Wendy crossed paths with a French Canadian accordionist.
She promptly fell in love with the accordion and added it to her musical mix.
This in combination with years of performance experience has recently led one
reporter to comment, "Every festival offers someone to discover, and for me that
was Wendy McNeill, an Edmonton musician whose sharp-edged songs with accordion
and guitar seem like dispatches from a post rock cabaret." Robert Everett-Green,
The Globe and Mail

McNeill has recorded 5 albums, contributed her music to indie films, dance and
theatre productions, been showcased on numerous compilation cds, and toured in
North America ,Europe, Brazil, and Japan.

She no longer dreams of being a super hero or a pop star. She still likes Dolly
Parton songs and hopes to dance around in a Wonder Woman costume again someday.

Sit back
Could say many things
And time is ticking
Where we're at is an act
And I sense that something's missing

We're just like this song
I only understand it three weeks after it's done
I only risk looking at you when you're not looking at me

I don't want you to struggle to say the right thing
All I want from you is your truth
Your truth so that I can give you mine
So that I can give you mine too

I could smile and ask you questions
Not let you know what's really on my mind
I could hold all the darkness back for you
But what kind of favour is that to you

Sit back could say many things
And time is ticking
Where we're at is an act
And I sense that something's missing

I could leave you to wonder about the lady
And her pedestal
I could be some empty doll
Or I could show you how I'm ugly and I'm beautiful
And you could show me how you're ugly and you're beautiful

Cause I can be so many things many things
And you can too so many things anything
And I want you to tell me to tell me everything
Everything anything everything
'Cause I want more
Of your truth
Your truth
Gimme, gimme your truth
Your truth
And I'll give you mine
And I'll give you mine too

When the Letter
Came
When the letter came it was soggy from the rain
The ink was thin and running and I know the author was the same
Cause I am he -- he is me -- we are they
All handling problems in our own way

He said I don't need a lecture to tell me where it's at, they are full of good
opinions and I can
Respect that,
But I don't need their halos playing with my light
Sure my lines aren't as smooth as they used to be
But that's all right

Are you gonne be like them he asked
Are you gonna shut your door
Because the sight of me is ugly
Because I'm supposed to be more
Do you think that I am crazy
Do you think that I am naive
Because these poisons are my passion
Because I'm living in a dream

I haven't got an answer, I haven't got a clue
Whatever makes you happiest I suppose that's
What you'll do
Oh those past times keep me thinking
Oh his present makes me say

I could love you more than i've been doing
I could judge you less than I know I say
What could be the answer
Could you whisper in my ear
Another quote from the last book you read dear

Could you whisper it in my ear
Another quote from the last book you read dear

Sexy
She was a white girl with red eyes
She had a beautiful smile but rotten insides
She could make a party with the toss of her head
She never said what she felt just went where she was led

She was sexy
A body that was wanted
She was sexy
When she tossed her mind aside

Fleeting thoughts of freedom were drowned by luxury
No one cared who she was just for the armpiece she could be
She lived in desperation for a fix to numb and catch her
She thought it was comfort but all it really did was trap her

She was sexy
A body that was wanted
She was sexy when her soul was kept confined
Sexy wasn't anything she wanted
Sexy that was all they'd ever known
Was she sexy with her drug induced drawl?
Was she sexy as she staggered down the hall?

She sat in pain and solitude
In the confines of her crystal room
Thinking back on her broken bits of memories
She rose to gaze into a mirror
It didn't lie it showed
Every line which she had done
Every line which she had said
Every line which she'd been given
In the hopes of getting her to bed

She was sexy
A body that was wanted
She was sexy when her soul was kept confined

Fall Girl
I look into your eyes of blue
The eyes through which oceans grew
You're growing up, giving up, getting unstuck
And
I'm so proud of you

When I think of how I let you down
How when you needed me, I was rarely around
But you were in my thoughts as I fumbled around

You know that I can't be it all
I can't be it all
Even though I try, I can't be it all
I can't be it all

I wanna be your hero
The chick that fears zero
The one who beats the odds
I wanna be your mom, your dad
Erase all the nightmares you've had but
Instead I'm just me
And you're in my thoughts as I fumble around

And I try to see it all
But I can't see it all
Even though I want to
I can't be it all
I can't be it all
Although I have tried

I don't know how many struggles for you ahead lie
But I do remember some of the ones that you've passed by
Now that sparkle has outdone the regrets
And you haven't even felt a fraction of that spark yet, no

I know that you will have it all
You can have it all
Anything you try
You can have it all
You can have it all
You're a miracle in my eyes
You're a miracle in my eyes

What You Need
Fresh from dreaming
I met him there
We were talking
He laughed when I told him I was scared
He said, "Tell me what is it, baby, that you need"
He said, "Tell me what is it, baby, that you need"

Just a moment
I need to figure that
He said, "Don't bother
I already know where you are at"

I said, "Really? Well, then..."
Would you please, be my eyes
Would you please, be my eyes for a minute, huh
Would you please, be my eyes
'Cause it's getting hard to focus
I can't separate my future from the past

He said "you think you're separate
From everything livin' or dead
You think you're different
You live too much in your head
Take a little advice from someone on the other side
There's a way bigger thing going on here
So relax and enjoy the ride

I wasn't surprised when you burst
Through the door crying
For days your eyes were swelling
You've got so many things on your mind
I want to help
But I know that I am part of the problem

A need like yours is not so hard to understand
For most mankind
You need to keep your armour shined
With other people's praising spit
But sometimes that spit has acid in it
And I know that that's part of the problem

As you give and give and give
And don't get back
You give in
And I know that that's part of the problem
There are so many parts to the problem

Can I stroke your temple
Will you lay it in my lap
Can I kiss your tears away
Can I rub the knots from your back
Cause I know that that's part of the problem
And although I am part of the problem
There is one more thing I want to say
In the hopes of making you feel better

Will you write to the raindrops
Will you play with the animals
Cause they don't have an opinion
But they have so much to say
Will you write to the raindrops
Will you play with the animals
Cause they don't have an opinion
But they have so much to say
They'll give and give and give
Until you can give to yourself

She Prayed
She sat on top of the hill
That was so hard to climb
And thought back on what it was like

Whispers became shouts
With the shifting of emotion
Sureness became doubt
Like the same of a favorite jeans

She sat on top of the hill
That was so hard to climb
And she thought back on what it was like

Love is not a promise, love is
And life is not a promise, it just is
And she prayed to understand this
Yeah, she prayed to understand this

She's got a view of the mountains
And a sunset sky and the crows are crying
As she's asking why and where
And when she'll see him again

But love is not a promise, love is
And life is not a promise, it just is
And she prayed to understand this
Yes, she prayed to understand this
Yes, she prayed to understand this

Sister, how come you won't admit,
That you're beautiful and that you're sick,
That you're an addict well at least driven to fit,
You got the power there so how come you can't find it.

How many tragic accidents did it take
For you to bury every fiber of your faith.
How many tragic accidents did it take
For that part of you to die.

And what can I give to you that could counter
The offers you took in sister and if
I could change everything would it be enough
To change your mind.
And let your tears fall down.
Let your tears fall down like they need to, sister.

You're living your life on somebody else's clock
And you realize that its stealing every precious second that you've got
And you think that your smile is convincing but its not.

How many tragic accidents did it take
To bury every fiber of your faith.

And what can I give to you that could counter
The offers you took in sister and if
I could change everything would it be enough
To change your mind.
And let your tears fall down.
Let your tears fall down like they need to, sister.
Cause they soon will.

Sister, how come you won't admit,
You got the power there so how come you can't find it.
How many. You got the power there so how come you can't find it.

Sometimes I don't see things as clearly
As I would like to see
I keep moving without a purpose to shield me
From all the blows that aching people throw
And all the tears I never let myself show
Sometimes I walk the line between growth
And familiarity
Not understanding why I have to choose a side

The funny thing about decisions
Is that as you're making them you never know
What the next bend in the road might expose
You could find yourself surrounded by
Something or somewhere that fear
Might have stopped you from going to
If you'd known

That's why sometimes when I don't see things
As clearly as I would like to see
I keep moving knowing that a purpose will find me
Because there's moments like these
And moments like these
Are all that really matter

Well her face seemed genuine
As she asked how I was doing
But I felt a stiffening in my spine
As her eyes strayed from what i was saying
We used to lock ourselves away
Swallowed up in conversation and bottles of wine
But now there's just awkward silence
Broken up by the stagnant phrase
I haven't seen you in such a long time

Oh her mouth still looks the same
As it speaks my name
But there's a distance in her tone that haunts me
Chills me reminds me
Of Alberta's landscape in November
Knowing there's months more to come
Where I can run toward the horizon
But not feel the warmth of the sun
That burns my eyes with its beauty
As it reflects from the snow
Can burn me at the same time
As it chills to the bone

Once upon a time I clung to pretending
‘Cause what I wanted most was a Hollywood ending
Now I see in her what it is I'm missing
Silence can speak volumes if I care to listen
A long walk through this winter has triggered my admission
Oh it's been a long time

But her mouth still looks the same
As it speaks my name
Oh there's a distance in her tone that haunts me
Chills me reminds me
Of Alberta's landscape in November
Knowing there's months more to come
Where I can run toward the horizon
But not feel the warmth of the sun
That burns my eyes with it's beauty
As it reflects from the snow
Can burn me at the same time
As it chills to the bone

Hold Me
Hold me
Oh, precious one
Until the sun comes back again
And handsome

What's
Your Whiskey, Baby?
Hear a knock at my back door
Hesitate as it scrapes the floor
Wondering what it could be this time
Wanna see, so I reach for light
Then I saw light

If I could take back everything I've done
What would I repeat and what would I run from
If I could take back everything I've done
What would I repeat and what would I run from

It was like whiskey
Oh, so smooth and power
Consumed me like a good groove
And water like love and wind
Like a dollar needing it more
Twisted my mind to sin

What's your whiskey, baby
Do you know
What's your whiskey, baby
Kick you high and then kick you low
What's your whiskey, baby
There's no shame in saying so
What's your whiskey, baby

Is it your lover, is it your job
Someone's opinion that you lean on
Is it a preacher, is it a soap
Maybe a six pack to help you cope
Is it a lie, is it the net
That busies your brain, so you can forget
You think you are one
But you are just one of
You think you are one
But you are just one of

What's your whiskey, baby
Do you know
What's your whiskey, baby
Kick you high and then kick you low
What's your whiskey, baby
There's no shame in saying so
What's your whiskey, baby

I don't have to pretend right now
But I've done that a lot, I know
I can't fight that I lied a lot
Lived in fear of all I got
Thinking I had to be so strong
Thinking I was all alone
I thought I was one
But I was just one of
I thought I was one
But I was just one of

If I could take back everything I've done
What power
What would I repeat and what would I run from
Give me water
If I could take back everything I've done
For a dollar
What would I repeat and what would I run from

Hear a knock at my back door
If I could take back everything I've done
Hesitate as it scrapes the floor
What would I repeat and what would I run from
Wondering what it could be this time
I wanna see, so I reach for light

Such a
Common BirdSuch a common
bird
I am a lone wolf
A beauty and a beast
Both hunter and hunted
Soft tongue and sharp teeth
I toned from my travels
Yet raw from this road
As I drink from storm puddles
And the stories I'm told

Help me figure this out
Help me figure you in
You're a shadow to me
That I echo when I sing
Help me figure this out
Help me figure you in
To this simple little melody

I have seen angels
They were sleeping in gutters
They were standing in bank lines
They were jumping from towers
They were calling like seagulls
But nobody heard
Such a beautiful message
From such a common bird

We want freedom for ourselves
But we can't give it to each other
We want peace beween nations
Yet we battle with our lovers
We're blinded by billboards
And trying to get ahead
Choking on ambition
And the words left unsaid
All the words left unsaid
From a simple little melody

I am a lone wolf
A beauty and a beast
Both hunter and hunted
Soft tongue and sharp teeth
I toned from my travels
Yet raw from this road
As I drink from storm puddles
And the stories I'm told

Help me figure this out
Help me figure you in
You're a shadow to me
That I echo when I sing
Help me figure this out
Help me figure you in

You're a shadow to me
That I echo when I sing

Blue skies
Trial by flight and trial by fire
Such tempting invitations take me higher and higher
The cauldron is boiling and there's a message in the scent
Says get your shit together, you're the next ingredient

So don't tell me that it's pointless
That my voice won't be heard
Don't tell me grin and bear it
Cuz I know that that's absurd
Don't tell me that it's risky and that I might get hurt
Don't tell me what is pointless

Good bye big blue skies
The eclipse of this moment feels like a sigh
I'm having second thoughts
Because this road isn't easy but
I can't just sit there and let it go by

I could be a joker and you could be a thief
We could speak of our intentions but we both know talk is cheap
Don't tell me where you go to when you close your eyes
Don't tell me where you go to just take me there this time

One time before i say good bye big blue sky

I have roots and branches
Encased within my ribs
With one deep inhalation
I could draw you in
Will you build yourself a condo
Right next to my heart
Where you can come to visit
While we are apart?

Julien
A drifter set in motion
This tale of love and devotion
Reluctant locomotion so wild
From a tattered and weakened state
He chose to liberate
Crossed the line into reason broke laws

Julien just began one day

Got arrested for holding a sign
And trying to speak his mind
He used his power they used force
He said 'we're all of one family'
Then demanded equality
They slammed his head on the concrete we cried

Julien my dear friend ciao

I have often been told
Of scoundrels and so and so's
They trade their life for a pot of gold true crime
But other folks I have seen
Not blinded by guilt and greed
They understand what they really need they shine

Julien was one of them
Now it's alright
I'll still fight for you ciao

From this throat that I'm singing through
The shade of my love is blue
Even the air reminds me of you today
Rich with humility
A thick possibility
Coats my skin with the smell of this prairie storm

You're in this storm aren't you Julien?
You're in this storm aren't you ?

Black
Angus
You say you are quiet because you lack food
I delight in your entree and watch as you chew
Now that your steak must be well on it's way
Through ten feet of intestines you still have nothing to
Nothing to say

I made you the offer to speak of your thirst
But your smirk was enorous and your hands well rehearsed
You were blue with the moonlight and wet with compari
Said 'we've only got a month so let's get busy'

You were so gentle a decade ago
As I nursed you with spirits at 18 years old
Now I'm a woman and i've traveled too
I would like to be more than some charm that you use
You've studied religions, traveled the world,
Collected artifacts, collected girls
Wish I was your brother, so that we could hang
So that I could know you
You beautiful beautiful thing

A kiss to your left cheek a kiss to your right
I move to your third eye and you pull away
Where does your god live? Where do you go?
You said god is in everything except my clothes
You are a player and I am a flirt
But I am looking for better I want to go deeper
I want to know more

You're writing a fairytale and in it is truth
She is an old hag that's toothless and bruised
The twist in the tale is in her last request
She says give me a sugarcoat when of me they ask
She is your daughter, she is your muse
She's in your drawings and she is in you
And I know you love her
I know you do
You beautiful
Beautiful
Thing

All aboard
All aboard this lord driven ford
Take me where you want to go
I could sit like this forever
In your belly at 110

Just like the princess and the pea
Something is messing with my sleep
Through the layers somethings calling
So i choose to speak my mind
Twist it all up into rhymes
Other times i take off driving

All aboard...

I hear the ticking of a clock
Feel the cold rush of a gun cocked
Some are dying some are dancing
As i look around this world
I am the luckiest of girls
The wonder of it has me shaking

All aboard...

My mother called me some kind of bird
Wish i could remember her exact words
Because she said it all so fondly
Now as i flip and as i flail
Tossing feathers in the air
I hear a voice say fly....fly...

All aboard this lord driven ford
Take me where you want to go
I could sit like this forever
In your belly at 110

Everyday
Heroes
Air thick with history tourists and chicory
Buildings are gorgeous shells of what used to be
I'm looking for something beyond architecture
Something bold and daring that's when I met her

She worships the maiden of the French quarter
Same look on her face as Joan six centuries before her
She's a poet, a Mother, a fighter, a freak
A tacky renegade in Mardi Gras beads

An everyday hero
Stumbling away
Every day hero
Makes me say

Fierce eyed beauty you're so brave
Wish you fortune wish you grace

An eight year old busker is tapping away
Hopes his feet will carry him to New York someday
He's the youngest of six and his momma prays
That he'll be her savior her little lamb

The Sparrow
Cent quinze sur la rue de Belleville dans Paris
Marks the spot where I was not born
But the myth persists because my life was chaotic
A street corner birth from an Italian whore

Anetta Giovani Millard, my mother,
Wandered the bars and the fairgrounds
She had a fling with a circus performer
Then left me with pap, who soon handed me down

Sometimes things get heavy
Sometimes it's too much

Now in the care of a kind brothel Madame
Grandma Gassion did the best that she could
This upbringing had not made me sentimental
When a boy signalled a girl
I figured she should

At sixteen years old, I was a mother
By seventeen, I was on with my life
When little Marcel died of meningitis
I started singing because I could not cry

Lewis Leplais was the club owner
He coaxed me on stage with a "la môme piaf"
I was the rage a heartbreaking beauty
But I broke for real, when they found him dead
And they had the nerve to consider me a suspect

Sometimes things get heavy
Sometimes it's too much

Stretch just a bit further
See how far I can go
This will be life to the fullest
Rich, ‘cause I am the sparrow

Some people think I was unsympathetic
Because in my notes I rarely spoke of the war
Pardonnez-moi, I was a little bit busy
Seeking out safety and lusting for more
More, more, more

Sometimes it's too much

My list of men looked like a phonebook
What can I say
It was tragic and fun
I had my last at fourty-seven
He was twenty years fresher
I like them young

Nineteen sixty three I recorded my last song
Ailing I was brought to the coast
My present love and a couple of others
Reasoned with me as I feared I might roast
Oh mon Dieu

Sometimes things get heavy
Sometimes, it's too much

Stretch, just a bit further
Guess, this is my time to go
Please, won't you pray to Saint Rita
To take care of her sparrow

Restless
Nothing like a belly full of stitches to let you know you're alive
Nothing like the leash of limitation to make you want to try
Nothing like a dodgy fortune teller to rush the next good bye
Nothing like a naive girl whose wide sad eyes say why
Why why why

Some of this was in April
Most of it was in the spring
But some of it will be the autumn too
What a chill that recognition brings
Yes some of this was in April
Most of it was in the spring
But some of it will be the autumn too
What a chill that recognition brings

Hug me touch me hold me down
Until i can't resist
Because i have been so restless restless
And i am tired of it

Just like these crazy nations history repeating
Hot tempered and inflated self defeating
Hand over foot digging for something to believe in
A bite to the back of my neck bliss is fleeting

I look at children and i wonder
I smell the flowers and i smile
If today could be tomorrow
Then i have done alright so far
Nothing like a careless thought
To put a sparkle in the eye
That sparkle is the thing i fall for every time
Because I am such a magpie
I, I, I

Hug me touch me hold me down
Until I can't resist
Because I have been so restless restless
And I am tired of it
I'm so tired of it

A single white carnation
Sailed through the air hit the ground
Behind it was laughter
And envy and joy in the sound
Of passion and power
For the star of the hour
Least noble of flowers
Lays at her feet like a clown

Just a step up from a weed
So common so hardy
A stranger to the fame
And other ridiculous things
A practical type
Like the fellow that threw you
Who shuffles away
And exits the theatre alone

A single teardrop
Softens the crease on his face
One of many hard living has shaped
"oh baby" he cried "why couldn't i ?"
"oh baby" he cried "why?"
"but look at you now, i guess i've done right"
So the carnation man picked up his bottle
And melted back into the night

She was succesful
The newspapers claimed
A pheonix from ashes
But what they never said was
She longed for a call
From the man she hardly knew at all
She folded her kerchif(sp)
And answered the dressing room door

To flashes of light and armfuls of flowers
"just put them over there" she said
"with all of the others"
But a ghost caught her eye
As the usher walked by
A crumpled carnation
Fell through the air hit the ground

When the Letter
Came
When the letter came it was soggy from the rain
The ink was thin and running and I know the author was the same
Cause I am he -- he is me -- we are they
All handling problems in our own way

He said I don't need a lecture to tell me where it's at, they are full of good
opinions and I can
Respect that,
But I don't need their halos playing with my light
Sure my lines aren't as smooth as they used to be
But that's all right

Are you gonne be like them he asked
Are you gonna shut your door
Because the sight of me is ugly
Because I'm supposed to be more
Do you think that I am crazy
Do you think that I am naive
Because these poisons are my passion
Because I'm living in a dream

I haven't got an answer, I haven't got a clue
Whatever makes you happiest I suppose that's
What you'll do
Oh those past times keep me thinking
Oh his present makes me say

I could love you more than i've been doing
I could judge you less than I know I say
What could be the answer
Could you whisper in my ear
Another quote from the last book you read dear

Could you whisper it in my ear
Another quote from the last book you read dear

Holly O'
She walks around the corner
Her heart small and tight as the ass in her jeans
She is a nail biter
Fuelled by fire and comic book scenes
She thought art held the answer
But the moments of insight made the questions get larger
She knew this town held treasure
But the map was confusing started feeling like pressure

Hey you
What do you know
Sweet holly sweet holly sweet Holly O'
Hey you
Where will you go
Sweet holly sweet holly sweet Holly O'

She says she's not worried of being alone
Her mind gives her more than her lover
Has no desire to travel back home
The big smoke nurtures more than her mother

A three legged dog hobbled across her path
Part polka part freak show
She studied she laughed
As she thought about how he'd arrived at that state
Was it genetics or some weird twist of fate
No collar no master
How she could relate

Hey you
What do you know
Sweet holly sweet holly sweet Holly O'
Hey you
Where will you go
Sweet holly sweet holly sweet holly O'

Living Was Wild
Ankle length petticoats and whale bone corsettes
Both clothing and symbol of the supposed weaker sex
Denied an education and a decent wage
I saw how it withered my mother and i refused to grow old that way

My family called me lazy and a foolish child
I never let their phrases phase me
Out where the living was wild
I set out to make some gravy

As a single lady out staking a claim
I got laughed at , pushed over, and shoved down the lane
So I weighed my options--got me a crib on "the line"
And let those fellows call me 'baby' as long as they could pay me fine

I felt like I was crazy
The Klondike too wild
My calculating eye turned hazy
Out where the living was wild
I hoped my stamina could save me

Dame fortune soon shone down on me
In the shape of diamond tooth lil and Georgia lee
Those 4th street parties and all the energy they took
We replenished ourselves telling stories
The ones that'd never make the books

Diamond tooth lil, she saved Georgia' s hide
When like so many other demimondes , she was crushed by some guy
Gave her one sharp piece of advice as she wept
'Don't make him glad you were something he got rid of,
Make him wish you were something he'd kept'
A single piece of wisdom it was a pearl
From a slightly jaded golden dreamer
Out where the living was wild
Both cursed and loved the rush that freed her

Georgia lee, she went to invest money well
With the wisdom that she'd gained from blanche cascaden and mrs. Belle
Soon she had some places and she taught me how
To double my money and branch out beyond the title of a good time girl

My family called me lazy and a foolish child
I never let their phrases phase me
Out where the living was wild
I made me a tone of gravy

Now I don't mean to suggest it was an easy float to the top
I worked hard for almost every nugget I got
And when I speak of loss I mean I lost a lot
When I speak of loss
I lost a lot

I watch them come i watch them go
Some quickly some slow
They drink their coffee eat bread
Read the paper shake heads --they say
"how can they do that "
"no better then rats"
What's that the pot calling the kettle black
And all the while the sun is rising

The mills of god grind slowly
Through this land of the high and the holy
Sharp witted but not clear
Focused in on the snows of last year
Eyes of amber feet of lead
Loves nectar soon dead
Will you change it the last words said
And all the while the sun is rising

Slowly deeply i will be the change i want to see
It's not easy but i will be the change i want to see

She wears a pendant around her neck
But it hasn't penetrated her heart yet
Where's justice what's law
The first witness the last draw
Suddenly there wad a pain in her chest
Where the emerald finally settled to rest
A tear washed things clear
There's only one of us here
And through us the sun is rising

Though circuitous and obscure
The feet of nemesis how sure
There's a rumble there's a call
Come one come all
There's only one of us here

Slowly deeply i will be the change i want to see
It's not easy but i will be the change i want to see

I am a lone wolf
A beauty and a beast
Both hunter and hunted
Soft tongue and sharp teeth
I toned from my travels yet raw from this road
As I drink from storm puddles
And the stories I'm told
Help me figure this out
Help me figure you in
You're a shadow to me
That I echo when I sing
Help me figure this out
Help me figure you into this simple little melody
I have seen angels
They were sleeping in gutters
They were standing in bank lines
They were jumping from towers
They were calling like seagulls
But nobody heard
Such a beautiful message
From such a common bird
We want freedom for ourselves
But we can't give it to each other
We want peace beween nations
Yet we battle with our lovers
We're blinded by billboards
And trying to get ahead
Choking on ambition
And the words left unsaid
All the words left unsaid form a simple little melody
I am a lone wolf
A beauty and a beast
Both hunter and hunted
Soft tongue and sharp teeth
I toned from my travels yet raw from this road
As I drink from storm puddles
And the stories I'm told

Help me figure this out
Help me figure you in
You're a shadow to me
That I echo when I sing
Help me figure this out
Help me figure you in

Treasure
I feel like I have been looking so long so long my dear
Hello's, goodbye's brave face, deep sigh so long
So long my dear
Your initials traced on glass
Care of my fingers and my breathe oh oh oh

Your heart your fire weak kneed I'm wild so gone so gone my dear
You're a corner stone it's true so easy to sink into ou ou ou
I hope to be the same for you
Such a treasure to dig into ou ou ou

The violet lining of a thunder cloud
The smell of it as the rain pours down
It gathers bits of brokeness
Shards of glass, leaves and sticks
Like a ringing bell like a jewelled fist
Like souls i know and what they confess
There's a beauty in this

While crying for better i've been spared the worst
Never dealt with more than existential thirst
A one up, a pot shot, a gimme gimme all you've got
How can i be shocked when the shark bites
I've been swimming with steak in my pockets all my life

People kill each other i can understand it
Just spend 3 hours stuck in a mall or traffic
Neurotics getting worshipped while the heroes work the fields
The shadow of the glamour trumps the magic of the real
Oh it's getting murky down here
Where is the beauty

That was just a question and this is just a song
In a big old world full of folks done wrong
Brave hopes, big dreams and failed attempts
But sometimes a promise does get kept
And there is beauty in this
Absolute beauty

Left, right, left was the pace of my steps
As I wrestled with a riddle that was making my mind twitch
It was spring in November, air was full of regret
I said think, baby think, baby how can I change this

Do do do do…

I saw a woman on the church steps by the side of the street
She had coins in her cup, a child's hand on her cheek
I said think baby, think baby, how can I change this
Took the long way home then went to sleep restless

But I dreamt of a castle rich and bright
And everyone in it was filled with light

Do do do do…

You'll never know the answer if you stop trying
Like bobby said “if you ain't busy living your busy dying”
Whoever told you it's pointless, well they're lying
And if that who is you, then you should change your mind

Start building a castle, don't sit and cry
‘Cause heartache is a hassle and it's a waste of time
So start building a castle, don't sit and cry
‘Cause heartache is a hassle and it's a waste of time

So bless the genies and the meanies
And the everyone in between'ies
All the comings and the goings
Of the fathers and the thieves
All the preachers and the teachers
All the girls dying to please
All the movers and the shakers
The ones with scratches on their knees

Start building a castle, don't sit and cry
‘Cause heartache is a hassle and it's a waste of time

She is so soft on this summer morning
Church bells ring, her dogs are yawning
Warm breeze carries last night's feeling
Wine, music, red river dealings

She is ghosts of grandmothers and kings
Nine million clowns and pretty things
She is torment, she is strife
She is beauty, she is spice

She cries for the animals, sings for the boys
Dirt road charity, stone in her voice
She cries for the animals, sings for the boys
Inhales disparity, chokes on the choice

She cries for the animals, sings for the boys
Dirt road charity, stone in her voice
Inhales disparity, chokes on the choice
Cries for the animals, sings for the boys

She cries for the animals, sings for the boys
Dirt road charity, stone in her voice
Inhales disparity, chokes on the choice
Cries for the animals, sings for the boys

She is ghosts of grandmothers and kings
Nine million clowns and pretty things
She is torment, she is strife
She is beauty, she is spice

Ask me no
questions
I walked in the garden and what did I see
Fresh blood on some feathers and an old coyote
Smiling and growling, looked straight in my eyes
Said “ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies”

Oh where did you come from, how long will you stay
Like a curious cat, I kept firing away
He had a great story, that much I could tell
He said “I am from heaven and I am from hell”

“For decades and decades I've hunted and roamed
But I go incognito no shape of my own
Sometimes I am human and rather well known
Sometimes I'm the whisper on your nights alone”

I'll say, can you see
It's not about hope
It's not about truth
Don't be naïve

Just come dance with me
I'll keep you safe
Give you all you can take
I'll make you happy

I spun on my heal and I ran toward the street
He was so close behind me I could feel his heart beat
I turned round to face him but he took to the sky
And a dozen old blackbirds started to cry

They said
“Ask him no questions, he'll tell you no lies”
They said
“Ask him no questions, he'll tell you no lies”

Tell me what it like when no one's watching
Tell me what it's like when no one's there
Tell me what it's like when no one's watching
Tell me what it's like when no one's there
Tell me what it's like when no one's watching
Tell me what it's like when no one's there
Tell me what it's like when no one's watching
Tell me what it's like because I still care

Faith and
the Long Haired Man
So I walk
Just to see
Though I fall so easily
I said “wind take me”
Let the dark dogs that nip at my heals
Miss my company

‘Cause I see
So much trouble
And I feel
So much pain

Do, do, do, do, do, do you too

A phantom touched me in the winter
The chill clung with me through the spring
I was raging for love half defeated
Then you held my hand

A young rabbit was caught
Foot pinched under a rock
No way back to water

Along came a snake
Altering fate
With some kindness and leverage

So slither and scales
Met with whiskers and tale
And the story unfolded

Well look at us
This is so new
We're from two different worlds
But I swear I love you

Sasha said “promise me something
You'll never leave me here behind
‘Cause this is already something
And I need you by my side”

Spring turned to summer, and summer to fall
Rosa's colours were changing and the wind seemed to call
But Sasha was tired and chilled to the bone
Winds offered him nothing but a longing for home

Well look at us
What shall we do?
We're from two different worlds
But I swear I love you

Rosa said “I know I promised you something
But I cannot stay here by your side
Our home has turned into something
A place where dreams and fear collide”

As she hugged him goodbye
They both started to cry
So he held her tighter

He was crushing her chest
She began to resist
Then he coiled still tighter

Wrapped fully around
Snake pulled rabbit back down
To their lair by the water

Said “I don't mean disrespect
For I love you my pet
But you are a liar”

Rosa's very last breath
A faint whisper at best
Nobody heard her

But her heart slowing down
Transformed into a sound
Like when fire meets water

Fluttered into the air
Through the forest the words
“We both deserved better”

Fluttered into the air
Through the forest was heard
“We both deserved better”

Maybe
Maybe is the kind of word that saves things
A relief for those who crave wings

She lives the things that I am dreaming
It's in the air she's breathing
It's what carries her away
Away, away, away, away, away

Maybe will you turn around and face me
I want to rest my eyes on, “could be”
I want to know that things can change

Back
Stairs
For once in his life he dropped the charade
She was gorgeous and glowing, a sweet serenade
He could have gone up but he opted to stay
He could see the gates of glory but the devil had his tail
Imagine that

She said, could it be you by the back stairs
She said, could it be you by the back stairs
Imagine that

Could it be you

He should have gone up, but he opted to stay
Along with the devil, he swaggered and swayed
She thought she could see him, could it be true?
He thought she was waving, she was just grasping for a clue

Could it be you by the back stairs
Could it be you by the back stairs
Could it be you by the back stairs
Could it be you by the back stairs

He should have gone up
He should have gone up
He should have gone up
He should have gone up
By the back stairs

White
Horses
Green was the colour of the ocean waves on that day
Green was the colour of the ocean waves on that day
Green was the colour of the ocean waves on that day

Green was the colour of the sea
That cast it's glow up and over me
The shade of hope, I reminisced
Swallowed hard, laughed then made a wish

Gold was the colour of the sand
Reflecting light, sliding through my hands
There was a rumble, I saw white
White, white, white horses
White horses

Park
Benches
Perched on a park bench, exotic bird
Strumming and cooing to the breeze and the earth
With half open eyes and a smile on your lips
Sun kissed eyelashes and a bag full of tricks
Timid enticer with truth you transfix

Spellbinding children and bored homeless drifters
They cautiously gather tugging at sleeves
The spark sets them swaying, grinning and clapping
Caught up in the same breath that's shifting the leaves
Skimming over park benches and into the street

Fly, fly, sweet little songbird
With your chipped nail polish and you words to the wise
Call, call, everyone's someone
With a heart that craves dancing and a wish in their eye
With a heart that craves dancing and a wish in their eye

You crawled up from the gutter
You say you've seen the light
Now you want to live life better
Your sentiment is rather trite
You say that you've learned your lessons
But lessons they take time
Meanwhile there are so many temptations
Have a look at some of mine

I loved her like a daughter
She told you she's my slave
After everything I gave her
That thing still won't behave
She's an animal
An animal

You ought to hear my story
But I haven't got the time
To offer a contrition
For the way I spend my time
To make you see my angle
You'd have to step inside
My palace of illusions
Where there's nothing you can hide
My little animal

I grant people their wishes
The first couple of times
And I expect compensation
Only asking for what's mine
Before we go much further
Before I let you go
You know you really don't deserve her
There's something you should know
You're still an animal
An animal

I collected her the same way
That the sea collected me
And she'll do the same I tell you
Just you wait and see
She complains of feeling empty
She's always wanting more
I told her that I know the feeling
What's she think I took her for
But her appetite is ravenous for one so young and thin
She's on the hunt for more than all the treasures in my den
She's an animal
An animal
An animal
An animal

I think she's gonna leave me
I guess I'll let her go
But I've given her so much
You know she really owes me more
I think she's gonna leave me
I guess I'll let her go
But I'll need a new distraction
This much you have to know

Stone skipped over water rippled out like time
Threw for every year he'd been here
Over thirty times
Rings glistened in the twilight
Shifted through the mist
So easily shattered
With a flick of the wrist

“Thank you , thank you, thank you for this
Would you, could you, show me all that I've missed?”

“I get what you're asking
Can you say it again
Did you mention forever
Something about dreaming”

“I get what you're asking
Can you say it again
Did you mention forever
Something about dreaming
Something about dreaming”

Stone skipped over water rippled out like time
Threw for every year he'd been here
Over thirty times
Rings glistened in the twilight
Shifted through the mist
So easily shattered
With a flick of the wrist

Picking up pieces(Cora leaving Krig)
Glory can come from devotion
So I did that, so I did that
But duty can be a bitter potion
Know I did that, know I did that
Lonely steps, my first away
But I did that, but I did that
Cold as the blade that cut my roots away

Now I would throw my body to the ground
If I thought it would change things
Give me some kind of reason
For why you want me crawling around
Picking up pieces
When these aren't my pieces

I used to be one of those girls
That would skip down the street
I used to be one of those girls
That would

I would throw my body to the ground
If I thought it would change things
Give me some kind of reason
For why you want me crawling around
Picking up pieces
When these aren't my pieces

I used to be one of those girls
That would skip down the street
I used to be one of those girls
That would

Black/white
Fate held the opposite to all of his finest decisions
One storm, and the rush of it
Cracked his ship and he felt himself sinking
Sharp, bright, flashes of light and the roar of the waves overhead
"It's alright" a voice in the night
It said, "follow me, follow me, follow me
Follow away, no need to go back, no need to go back now
Away, no need to go back, no need to go back now "

Up where the sun shone his love disbelieving
Shed tears in the ocean while rowing and grieving
"You can't just have vanished, you were so close to shore
Was there a siren in the waves that tore you from home
Wish you could come back, wish you would come back now
Wish you could come back, wish you would come back now"

"What happened" he said, "have I collided with stars
I feel such confusion, don't know where we are
And what are those strange jewels that fall from above
They fill me with longing like the shadow of love
I need to go back, I need to go back now
I need to go back, I need to go back now"

"Hush now my darling I've built you a garden
Relax and enjoy it, you are bound here by nothing
Let my necklace entice you, pearls round a silk strand
It cuts straight through their centre like darkness through man

Beyond all
reason(Eddy's farewell song to Cora)
A most violent paradise
Tumultuous and free
Hot tears shaped the clouds above
And held everything we'd seen
In the woods there was a bird whose song made you blush
And there was also a clock
But it never struck

While we were out wandering
Open to anything
Audacious and dreaming
There was no logic to our promises
So I'll take this for what it was
Beyond all reason
Beyond all reason

Close my eyes, words fill me like music
Truth comes to light
Strange voices say 'do it'
While we were out wandering
Close my eyes, words fill me like music
Truth comes to light
Strange voices say 'do it'
It was beyond all reason
In the woods there was a bird whose song made you blush

Eddy (Why Don't You Put Your Gun Down?)(The seaweed soldiers reveal eddy's secret)
What are these words that are surrounding me
I swear the seagrass is talking to me
It speaks my name so lovingly
I've heard this song before

Like stars in the night
Their voices soft and light
The twinkle started slowly shifting to a roar
It was the call of soldiers
Was the call of pain
It weakened his defences
Calling out his name

A flash of light and a burst of flame
He relived the battlefield again
He shook as memories filtered into him
His orders, open fire
Don't talk to me of mercy
Justice is my aim
For every one I kill
I'll do it in her name
Oh God, I showed no mercy
Justice never came
Revenge could not revive her
And now their blood is my shame

Through drowning lips we prayed for miracles
'Cause twenty is just too young to have to go
Now we are prisoners of the sea
Reliving birth through battle like a dream
Our first source of destruction
Vengeance and a gun
We all lost someone Eddy
All had come undone
But when you saw us dying
Something in you snapped
Although we are the fallen
You're the one whose trapped

Lions and lambs(Elyse to Cora)
Come away
From the roar and the shake
Like this planet spinning
We each take our chances turning
Say that it's natural
Life is a battle
We're so the same
Lions and lambs
Ready to kill
Ready to fall

Is this so real
Is this so real
Is this so real

Come away
From the roar and the shake
Is this so real
Come away
From the roar and the shake
It's like this planet spinning
Come away
From the roar and the shake...

We're so the same
We each take our chances turning

Toss it away(Mary speaks)
They come back, they come
They come back
One by one

The ace of spades is what I drew that day
It said a circle of salt would keep the wolves at bay
So I chased the ocean for fifty six days
And I fell in love fifty six ways

Moving around for awhile
Oh I've been moving around for awhile

The king of diamonds, he crossed my path
Fresh from the water and smooth like sea glass
Said "I don't care about your future
I don't care about your past
Just come over here, I'll help you relax"

Moving around for awhile
Oh I've been moving around for awhile
So, I'll keep moving around for awhile
Oh I've been moving around for awhile

The queen of hearts, she was my next guest
Jewels in her eyes and mint on her breath
She told me all my secrets
Put her hand on my chest
Said "toss it away, it'll all come back
Toss it away, it'll all come back..."

And they come back, they come
They come back
One by one

Grey eyes(Cora about Elyse)
She turned her head so slow
As she told me I should go

I loved to look into her grey eyes
But now it seems they haunt me every night
It's all too much this first to last
And it all flew by so damn fast

She said "I fought a good fight"
I know you fought a good fight

I held her head and I kissed her cheek
I combed her hair and I rubbed her feet
I tried to smile, but she saw through
Those grey eyes never missed a clue

She said "I fought a good fight
I fought a good fight
And you can fight a good fight without me
Go and fight a good fight"

Now I wish that I could see
Now I wish that I could see
Now I wish that I could see...
All those grey eyes saw in me

Giver(Cora to all)
Apologies to those of you that are eternal sunshine
But it seems so ostentatious, don't you trip on shadows sometimes
While crumpling the notions and tossing them away
And going through the motions and seizing the day

I want to know what you mean when you say you're a giver
I want to know what you mean when you say, I care
See I found myself a mother, she helped me take a stand
But she was on a mission, left before I landed

I know that this world is a strange one
Nothing is quite as it seems
A king rich from trickery rules here
And seems to have killed a true queen

I want to know what it takes to remain a giver
I want to know how to stoke my faith in man
Chimeras and sweet nothings sinking in the sand
When I try to grasp them they dissolve in my hands

Belief is superstition, magic, and religion -half blind
Disbelief an endless question, emptiness, despair
The river that's between them is the safest place to swim
Never mind the rapids, we're already half in

I want to know what you mean when you say you're a giver
I want to know how it feels to be so near
That doesn't seem to be the way it is today
It could surely help me if I heard you say
Giver!
Away, away, away

All these
wishes(Mary from the shore)
Bursts of white blossoms were appearing
On the surface of the sea
Each one a Lilly scented whisper
Whose essence said that she
Would soon get what she wanted
That her dream would come to pass
She pulled her gaze from the horizon
As she heard a violent splash

All these wishes
All this time
Kept me guessing
Is this why

On the rocks a fish lie gasping
Strapped to its back a tattered map
She picked her way through stands toward him
One step forward
Two steps back

One Colour More
You were with me when my eyes first opened
you were with me when my soul cried
more
With your sweet promises all smoke and mirrors
Kept me hanging on 'cause I believed it

So I put my faith in things
forsaken
These battled beauties crawling onto dusty shores
Whispering reason and
more

I swore I would not fall to pieces
This time around
But swearing is for
crooks and preachersAgain a copy paste, i'm tired of robotA broken wing
A frosted branch
A final word
A twice struck
match
Good for something
But not like before
A shift in purpose
One colour
more
One colour
more

In Bocca al Lupo
The damp air carried the smell of musty cotton
And burning sugar
The red moon over the brackish dark water
Whispered danger

Oh, in bocca al lupo
Oh, crepi il lupo

La Merica won't you please, please won't you be
A place that
loves music and the man that made me
These docks are a war zone, such ferocity
I wonder if we should have left dear
SicilyAgain a copy paste, i'm tired of robot
I am steel reeds, gaskets & kidskin gusset
I'm gleaming green
Set in
Circassian walnut
He crafted me with love
And I am his best shot
At getting
out of the shipyards
And starting his music shop

Oh, in bocca al lupo
Oh, crepi
il lupo

His eyes grew nervous, his touch grew rough
I think it troubled him that no one
liked our melodies much
The French swore for waltzes, the Irish jigs and reels
A choppy sort of fusion was demanded by the Creoles
He was such a brave man
with eyes of amber
Thick black hair and a barrel chested swagger
But sfortunato
was his hand
Even the best accordion can't save an unlucky man

La Merica won't
you please, please won't you be
A place that loves music and the man that made
me
These docks are a war zone, such ferocity
I wish that we had never left dear
Sicily

Have you ever had to say goodbye from a distance
Knowing it was forever
in one sharp instant
I slid out of his arms and crashed to the floor
As the
cops burst through the party and tore the men through the back door

Three
hundred Italians were rounded up that day
As an officer was shot and an
accusation was made
Some were tried, then acquitted
But a mob still insisted it
was them that did it
They broke into the prison shouting "someone will pay!"
My
sweet maker was among the innocent lynched that day

Oh, in bocca al lupo
Oh, crepi il lupo

La Merica won't you please, please won't you be
A place that
loves music and the man that made me
These docks are a war zone, such
ferocity
I wish that we had never left dear Sicily

La Merica won't you please,
please won't you be
A place that loves music and the man that made me
These
docks are a war zone, such ferocity
Crepi il lupo

Owl and Boy
I met a boy just like me
He couldn't fledge feathers, had no family
Although he
had two legs and human teeth
His eyes were wild like a prairie beast'sAgain a copy paste, i'm tired of robot
We owls
are swifter than the children of men
Every week of our lives takes a year for
them
By my calculations that made us both eight
I said "aren't you a little
short in the beak to migrate?"
Who who

Hatchlings are born helpless and
weak
Depending on our parents to help us feed
When something happened that kept
my folks away
While struggling on my own, my feather growth was delayed
"Time
waits for no one" the elder birds said
And as the nights grew colder my flock
flew away
"time waits for no one" the boy nodded his head
And said a similar
thing had happened to him

He said he'd come from a land far
away
Which was why he spoke differently than other kids I'd heard play
Described
for me a city that was gritty and black
Where the roofs were damp and the
gutters had rats
The Society of Waifs and Strays
Had gathered up his gang and
shipped them away
From the hunger and the hazards of the dead-end streets
To
where the food was plenty and the air was sweet in Canada
Who who

He said: "will
you stick by me, can I call you friend?
Though these folks are fine I don't feel
like one of them"
I said I would stick by him, as he knelt by my den
I told him
all I'd learned of borrowed homes and adapting
Who who

Athene cunicularia, that's my family name
Or burrowing owl as they say on the
plains
We're built for flight but we live on the ground
In other creatures
burrows which we have found
We cozy them up with twigs and grass
But none of this offers protection if the owner comes back
Gophers are fine,
snakes are mean
I think the badger is the deadliest thing that I've seen

But
your human situation is worse it seems
You never know what kind of animal they will be
You can't be too quick to call
one friend or enemy
Who who

When one is the runt of the litter
Or the new kid on the hectare
You've got to analyse the obstacles and
dangers
And then do them one better

Take me for example, I work a bit each day
On
my imitation of a rattle snake
The language of one's predator is a handy thing
to know
The mastering of it is how I've saved my tail up till now

Life here
holds amazing things
Even without a set of parents or a pair of wings
You ask "what can this prairie bring?"
I say "anything, anything, anything"
Oh Canada

Will
you stick by me can I call you friend
In this land of grasses as vast as the
ocean
If we stick together through thick and through thin
We can forage a future
Two orphans in Canada
Oh Canada

Papusza and the Crows
I fell in love with her among harps and violins
Attracted by her songs and the
books she'd hidden
Her family brought the woods alive with thirst for living
But
feared written words and cursed her for her reading
This passion, self
taught
Along with local lessons she bought
Stolen chickens is how she managed
to pay
And as she snapped their necks, she prayedAgain a copy paste, i'm tired of robot
One crow sorrow, two crows
trust
Whomever is my maker tell me this much
How can what I love so much be
wrong
Are not words on paper as pure as words in song

One crow worry, two crows
war
Three crows run child
Before they reach your door
This crow's seen it all
before
So I warned them two times more

All the birds were praying for the Gypsy
children
To blend into the forest so the pale men can't reach them
"snow fell
thick as leaves" as we watched their shadows
Looking past us in the trees
As if
the stars might guide them

Porraimos, the Devouring
500,000 gone, more
running
We're alone on this longest road
Papusza, don't you see, beware of the
gadjo!

One crow danger, two crows truth
Three crows, enough luck to pull the
family through
She wrote all of their suffering down
And hoped a sympathetic ear may be
found

My darling was delighted to meet Ficowski
Felt he understood her nature
and poetry
But two hearts in the right place don't guarantee
A happy ending,
can't control what is to be

One crow sorrow, two crows joy
Three crows a
promise
Four crows a ploy
This crow has seen it all before
I had to let her take
her fall

They called her mahrime, traitor
No longer one of their daughters
No
longer a part of
The water that wanders

My words were used against my
wishes
The Great Halt left my people stranded
If this is how it's going to be
Then bury me

My words were used against my
wishes
The Great Halt left my people stranded
If this is how it's going to be
Then bury me

My words were used against my
wishes
The Great Halt left my people stranded
If this is how it's going to be
Then bury me standing, standing, standing

My words were used against my
wishes
The Great Halt left my people stranded
If this is how it's going to be
Then bury me standing

Then it
fell from the sky
First it smelled like sweet apples
First it smelled sweet

Life is a lottery
It
favours the quick
Memory is elusive
Runs away, away, away with itAgain a copy paste, i'm tired of robot
I hear her singing to the plums and the grapes
See her nimble hands
sewing cotton and lace
Bags which would protect fruit from bees
All of these
things I carry with me

My sister's smile, my father's poetry
But I know that I
will never inherit
My mother's trees

We Spirit-Wrestlers have
strength and faith
But I never thought we'd sail so far away
I feel the sea in
me, I'm waveringAgain a copy paste, i'm tired of robot
Oh, we'll do the best we can do
Continue west brave
pacifists we'll help each other through
Oh, we'll do the best we can
do

When we reached the other shore I felt steadier
Then by rail we all felt
better, yet still
My son would not calm down

Now this thought haunts me
We'd come so far so fast
Perhaps his nature was shaped by the ceaseless motion
of our path

Oh, how is a woman to sooth
All these restless souls as
they're adapting
Oh, we'll do the best we can do
While the men work "out"
we'll work in and do the planting

I have been working my fingers to the bone
But
I can't replace that his father isn't home

Sometimes, like I promised
We're
together and he shines
But it's never soon or long enough for a young man's time
line

I know why you're so sad boy
I can feel it in me too
Would you let me sing
a hymn with you

I know why you're so sad boy
I can feel it in me too
But those men aren't talking sense to you
Those men aren't talking sense to
you

I remember how it sounded when we were 4,000 strong
But now we're scattered
like the gravel from the road we walked here on
And the pressure's crept into
us like a tale so often told
We're like the earth once it's been broken and the strangest weeds take
hold

(We're like the earth once it's been broken
and the strangest weeds take hold)
(All I ever wanted for my baby was to have a better life than the good Lord gave
me)...

I had to turn away when he asked me that
question
'Cause I know what the Sons of Freedom do
I know everything

I couldn't
tell him what it was that he needed me to say
'Cause he who lives by the sword
has cut all hope away

Oh, what is a mother to do
When there's no
tenderness left in the seed she planted
Oh, I don't know what I can
do
Seems this prairie has made a wolf of you
This prairie has made a wolf of you

September
Yes, it was simpler then
The time before we thought we knew better
We tripped
along the riverbank
Copper trails, fists tucked in our sweaters

The leaves and
wild grasses
Were weakened by the chill in the breeze
Still summoned up the
fortitude
To tickle us on the backs of our knees

Our lives
Tangled roots sucking
the ground
In September
We slipped
Laughed so hard that we fell down
Do you
rememberAgain a copy paste, i'm tired of robot
A decade's worth of promises
Settled in the crease of your cheek
Your
eyelids, an accordion
That folded and lulled you to sleep

And your dreams were full of miracles
And colours that we'd never seen
It left
you feeling curious
With a hint of longing

Our love
Tangled roots sucking the ground
In September
We slipped
Laughed so
hard that we fell down
Do you remember

Yes, it was simpler then
The time before
we thought we knew better
We tripped along the riverbank
Copper trails, fists
tucked in our sweaters

Such a forward
and back dance you do
Wide the wonder
Such a forward
and back dance you do
Wild the hunger
Such a forward
and back dance you do
The wonder
Such a forward and back dance
The
hunger

Such a forward
and back dance you do
Wide the wonder
Such a forward
and back dance you do
Wild the hunger
Such a forward
and back dance you do
Wide the wonder
Such a forward
and back dance you doAgain a copy paste, i'm tired of robot
I wrote for the horses that burst from the sea
Whose pounding hooves raced like my heartbeat
I wrote for the wanting, I wrote
for the need
I wrote for the wind
what it gifted me

Wide the wonder
Wild the hunger
Wide the wonder
Wild the hunger

Wide the wonder
Wild the hunger
Eyes like the sea
I felt them
melt through me
Until all I could see
was
Precious

Such a forward
and back dance you do
The wonder
Such a forward
and back dance you do
The hunger

Such a forward
and back dance you do
Wide the wonder
Such a forward and back dance
Wild the hunger

In this part of the world tonight
Through the shadows there's a bell that's ringing
In this part of the world tonight
There's a growl and the softest sigh

In this part of the world tonight
There's a child, and I see her dancing
As she pivots her face toward me
She's kicking at stars and laughing

In this part of the world tonight
There's a bear weightlessly lumbering
Through the steps of a twice dead girl
And the promise of a different world

In that part of the world tonight
There's a river and a mother crying
Sees wind messing with the reflection
Not the message that the stars are sending

"Sorry for your troubles friend
But life gives and it takes
Like all the beasts and elements
You need to learn to play
Even the hearts of galaxies
Have black holes at their base
But timeless is love's offering
You're going to be ok"

In this part of the world tonight
A man accepts its failings
In this part of the world tonight
A fear becomes a friend

In this part of the world tonight
Strange shapes whispering "freedom"
He abandons the strain of striving
Opening arms and breathes in

This Hope
When you walk the wire
It's quite a view and I've seen plenty
Round and round, a crooked waltz
The wheel of time

This hope
Is a different kind of heavy
This hope
Is a thing I can't define

When I think I know the reasons
And the part I'm going to play
A twist kicks at conviction
And yanks the ground away
Then like a puppet on a string
Swinging
Let go of it
Just go for it

This hope
It is a thing with feathers
This hope,
A song within the storm
Calling you

The Binding Of
Fenrir
All the folks had gathered to see what was in store
another test of my strength, a new chain had been forged
But something in its shimmer made me sense a trap
A strange sort of shiver crept up my back
It was roots of stones, and step of a cat
Breath of fish-strange things like that

I said I won't fight that
There's something tricky here
I won't fight that
Let me be very clear
I won't fight that
Won't step into this one alone

I'm needing one brave act
That's what I'm asking here
Just one brave act
I need a volunteer to be a sort of guarantee
Place your hand here, please

The only one to offer was my trusted friend
From him the only nourishment that I'd been given
But his step was heavy and his touch was light
His eye unsteady and he reaked of fright
The deal was sealed, the fetter placed
And as I feared this chain won't break

But no, I won't bite back
Resist a little longer
Won't bite that
But still I wonder what sort of wolf should I be to one that betrays me

They locked me up in a desolate place
His hand in my stomach, their sword in my face
And as I howled and cursed them
A river flowed from my spit
It was Expectation
And I would deliver it

They prophesied that I would bring death and calamity
But they were doomed by what they couldn't see
By their own deeds through their mistreatment of me

So a word of advice:
If you want to keep your monsters at bay
Don't school them with cruelty that they'll feel compelled to repay

Someday a great poet will say
"Everything that lives is holy"
And what was done to and through me nothing but a story

I said I won't bite down
I said I won't bite down
I said I won't
But here we are

My mother was a giant and my father a trickster
But I wasn't raised by them, not their nature
Wish you wouldn't paint me with the same old brush
I didn't even care for my siblings much

My brother was a snake, my sister a Helcat
But blood is thicker than water, you proved that
My brother was a snake, my sister a Helcat
But blood is thicker than water, you proved that

I said I won't bite
I said I won't bite
I said I won't bite
I said I won't bite
I won't bite
I won't bite
I won't bite
I won't bite
Raw!

Beauty - more than a pretty face
I felt it leave - a light erased
So I looked low and I looked high
Around all the spots we loved to hide

I want to be the one
That will step in and shelter you
I want to be the one
But I don't know what I should do

This time is softer than the tide suggests
As we gather around and place our bets
A pull to the left - a push to the right
It's a mixed up battle in the air tonight
Eyes half open and hearts shut tight

I want to be the one
That will step in and shelter you
I want to be the one
But I don't know what I should do

What would it take

Come on, baby, I won't break
I want to give it - will you take
Raw power
I promise that
Lean in
I've got your back

So come on, baby, I won't break
I want to give it - will you take
Raw power
I promise that
Lean in
I've got your back

I've got your back

I want to be the one
That will step in and shelter you
I want to be the one
But I don't know what I should do

The Robin's
Request
All for a little while
A lifetime in a day
Beyond the waves
Before the crave
Between the "this" and the "they"

Can I paint you a picture
With the dirt from my wings
And the damp of the storm clouds
Charged rumblings

I know you want to run back
But there is no back
I know you want to run back
But there is no back
I know you want to run back
But there is no back
There is no back

All of the little things
Must fuse to make things richer
What seems like the end
Is just starting again
What are dreams
Without sunshine
To tend them

So shall I paint you a picture
With somebody's words
I can paint you a picture
With somebody's words